When Henry Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) dies unexpectedly, his estate must pass by law to his son from his first marriage, John (James Fleet) and wife Fanny (Harriet Walter). But these circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood’s current wife (Gemma Jones), and daughters Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret (Emilie Francois), without a home and with barely enough money to live on.

The sisters struggle for economic survival and search for romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status and must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.